Uconn

Daigneault: Big week for UConn men BY ED DAIGNEAULT REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie reacts during the second half of his team's 53-51 loss to Stanford in an NCAA college basketball game in Hartford, Conn., Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Eventually the pervceived difficulty — or lack thereof — of playing in the American Athletic Conference might be altered by time. When the Big East began, nobody ever figured playing at UConn or Providence would measure high on the difficulty scale.

The passage of time changed all that to the point where going to Seton Hall and Rutgers in a week's span, though hardly a trip through juggernaut territory, gave coaches heart palpitations.

This week, UConn faces the toughest week of its conference schedule. The Huskies play at No. 17 Memphis on Thursday night and then play host to No. 18 Louisville, the defending national champion, on Saturday night at Gampel Pavilion.

It is a week that could well determine where the Huskies eventually stand in the AAC. It is also a week that can't be regarded as the be all and end all in this first journey through an AAC schedule. There are other important games to be played, including second games against the Tigers and Cardinals.

The point is, this league might be better than anybody gives it credit for being. When all is done, UConn's two-game slide through Texas might not look all that bad. As is becoming increasingly evident, playing a road game in any league is not easy.

"I've been telling you guys all along, this is a good league," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "There are no easy nights in this league."

Yes, that is coach speak. But there is some truth in it.

Cincinnati won at Memphis. Memphis turned right around and won at Louisville. While UConn's loss at Houston is viewed as terrible, Cincinnati, which is ranked No. 19 and sits atop the AAC standings, won at Houston last week by a 61-60 score. The Cougars played for the fourth straight game without three of their key players, two of whom are starters.

There is a clear divide in the league, however. Central Florida, South Florida, Rutgers and Temple are not good. The first three all have one AAC victory. Temple was the victim in each of those cases. But it is still apparent that the top six teams in the 10-team league are all capable. All have guards who can control games and talented though unknown players around them.

We may all figure that out by the time the members gather in Memphis for the first AAC tournament.

"We don't know a lot of these teams in this league," UConn guard Shabazz Napier said, "but I think we learned something about how good this league can be in Texas. We came out sluggish against Houston and it cost us. We came out ready against SMU but that's a good team and we couldn't finish it.

"It definitely got our attention."

Memphis and Louisville have no trouble garnering anybody's attention. They, along with UConn, are viewed as the marquee teams in the AAC. That, as much as anything, is what makes this week vitally important to the Huskies. They are clearly good teams, but beating them also changes perception.

UConn slogged its way to a win against a good Harvard team and then blitzed Central Florida. Nobody took much notice. The AAC will be greeted mostly with shoulder shrugs for much of the year with only a few exceptions.

The first exception for the Huskies comes this week. If they aren't able to navigate it successfully, they may be left as afterthoughts until the first week of March when UConn welcomes Cincinnati to the XL Center and, after a game against Rutgers, goes to Louisville to finish the regular season.

Every week in the Big East seemed big because of perception. Every week in the AAC is important because the league needs to better perception. Thus UConn embarks on the two biggest games of its season to date with the perception of the Huskies firmly in debate.

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